TCM Schedule for Friday, September 16 -- What's On Tonight -- Carry On ...

Happy birthday to Lauren Bacall, born Betty Jane Perske on this day in 1924, in New York City. And in primetime, TCM is showing a selection of four of 31 films from one of the more unusual Britsh comedy series -- Carry On. A greatly silly time will be had by all. Enjoy!



6:00 AM -- TCM Presents Elvis Mitchell Under the Influence: Joan Allen (2008)
Celebrities reveal the classic movies that influenced their lives in interviews with acclaimed film critic/interviewer Elvis Mitchell.
C-27 min, TV-PG, CC

Joan has receive nominations for Oscars for Best Actress in a Leading Role for The Contender (2000), for Best Actress in a Supporting Role for The Crucible (1996), and for Best Actress in a Supporting Role for Nixon (1995).


6:45 AM -- Dark Passage (1947)
A man falsely accused of his wife's murder escapes to search for the real killer.
Dir: Delmer Daves
Cast: Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall, Bruce Bennett.
106 min, TV-PG, CC

When Vincent (Bogart) reads the newspaper clipping about Irene's (Bacall's) father, the accompanying photograph of her father is that of director/screenwriter Delmer Daves.


8:45 AM -- Key Largo (1948)
A returning veteran tangles with a ruthless gangster during a hurricane.
Dir: John Huston
Cast: Humphrey Bogart, Edward G. Robinson, Lauren Bacall.
101 min, TV-G, CC

Won an Oscar for Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Claire Trevor

The character of Gaye Dawn (Claire Trevor) was based on real-life moll Gay Orlova (gangster Lucky Luciano's girlfriend), believed at that time to have been executed by a German firing squad. Orlova survived, however, and was known to be living in Paris as late as 1954, trying to join Luciano in Italy.


10:30 AM -- Bright Leaf (1950)
Two tobacco growers battle for control of the cigarette market.
Dir: Michael Curtiz
Cast: Gary Cooper, Lauren Bacall, Patricia Neal.
111 min, TV-PG

To add authenticity to the film, an authentic, turn of the century cigarette maker was purchased as a prop.


12:30 PM -- The Cobweb (1955)
Inmates and staff at a posh asylum clash over love and lunacy.
Dir: Vincente Minnelli
Cast: Richard Widmark, Lauren Bacall, Charles Boyer.
C-124 min, TV-PG, CC

This film marks the return of Lillian Gish to MGM after a 22 year absence from MGM studios.


2:45 PM -- Sex And The Single Girl (1964)
A journalist sets out to expose a female sex expert but falls for her instead.
Dir: Richard Quine
Cast: Tony Curtis, Natalie Wood, Henry Fonda.
C-114 min, TV-PG

There are many jokes with references to Jack Lemmon and Some Like It Hot, with Lemmon and Tony Curtis--Curtis dressing as a woman in one scene, for example.


4:45 PM -- Harper (1966)
A broken-down private eye sets out to find a rich woman's missing husband.
Dir: Jack Smight
Cast: Paul Newman, Lauren Bacall, Julie Harris.
C-121 min, TV-14, CC

The character Lew Harper is based on novelist Ross Macdonald's character Lew Archer. The name was changed for the film supposedly because Paul Newman had recently enjoyed success with Hud (one of his many successful films beginning with H) and the producers wanted the movie's title to begin with "H". Also, the Macdonald estate did not want the name "Archer" used in the movie. There may have been fear of legal complications because Macdonald got the name "Archer" in the first place from Miles Archer, Sam Spade's partner who is killed early on in Dashiell Hammett's "The Maltese Falcon."


7:00 PM -- Private Screenings: Lauren Bacall (2005)
Lauren Bacall discusses her life and career with host Robert Osborne.
C-50 min, TV-PG, CC

With late husband Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall has a kind of vocal disorder named after her. "Bogart-Bacall syndrome" (or BBS) is a form of muscle tension dysphonia most common in professional voice users (actors, singers, TV/radio presenters, etc) who habitually use a very low speaking pitch. BBS is more common among women than men and has been blamed on "social pressure on professional women to compete with men in the business arena".



TCM PRIMETIME - WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: CARRY ON...



8:00 PM -- Carry on Sergeant (1959)
A drill sergeant struggles to turn his last squad of draftees into a crack platoon.
Dir: Gerald Thomas
Cast: William Hartnell, Bob Monkhouse, Shirley Eaton.
84 min, CC

The first of the Carry On films features the "Carry On..." débuts of regular stars Kenneth Williams, Charles Hawtrey, Hattie Jacques, Kenneth Connor and Terry Scott.


9:30 PM -- Carry On Nurse (1960)
Patients in a surgical ward rebel against the tyrannical head nurse.
Dir: Gerald Thomas
Cast: Kenneth Connor, Kenneth Williams, Chalrles Hawtrey.
87 min, CC

When the film was released, Wilfrid Hyde-White's agent threatened to sue, on the grounds that the backside used in the daffodil gag belonged to someone other than his client. The action was dropped when it was revealed that the whole thing was done by suggestion, and that no backside is seen.


11:00 PM -- Carry on Teacher (1962)
Student try to sabotage a popular headmaster's plans to leave for another job.
Dir: Gerald Thomas
Cast: Ted Ray, Kenneth Connor, Leslie Phillips.
87 min, CC

During the filming, Charles Hawtrey's mother would often visit the set. While enjoying a cigarette, she accidentally dropped lit ash from the cigarette into her handbag. Joan Sims who was the first to spot the incident yelled, "Charlie Charlie, your mother's bag is on fire!". Charles Hawtrey poured his cup of tea into the bag, snapped it shut, and carried on.


12:30 AM -- Carry on, Constable (1961)
A flu epidemic forces a police sergeant to take on four bumbling newcomers.
Dir: Gerald Thomas
Cast: Sidney James, Eric Barker, Kenneth Connor.
86 min, CC

The first "Carry On..." film to include some nudity.


2:00 AM -- Corruption (1967)
When a plastic surgeon accidentally disfigures his model girlfriend, he becomes obsessed with restoring her face.
Dir: Robert Hartford-Davis
Cast: Peter Cushing, Sue Lloyd, Noel Trevarthen.
C-91 min, TV-14, CC

Also known as Carnage.


3:45 AM -- Wicked, Wicked (1973)
A detective hunts down a psycho killer drawn to women with long blonde hair.
Dir: Richard Bare
Cast: Tiffany Bolling, Scott Brady, David Bailey.
C-95 min, TV-14

Film uses a gimmick entitled "Duo-Vision", basically a split-screen effect that lasts the whole film. Pages of the screenplay were divided in half, with each half of the page corresponding to the action that would play out on each side of the screen. This presented problems for writer Richard L. Bare, who had trouble finding a typewriter which would accommodate his split-page typing needs. One of the earliest films released in stereo, with sound emitting from either the left or right speaker depending upon which side of the screen the sound was meant to be coming from.


5:30 AM -- Holiday From Rules (1959)
In this educational film, a group of young children understand why rules are important.
Dir: William H. Murray
11 min, TV-G

Filmed in Walled Lake, Michigan.


5:45 AM -- Delicious Dishes (1950)
Experts demonstrate such innovative kitchen gadgets as the cheese slicer and the melon baller.
Cast: Chef Arnold Morris
13 min